Survivors of Highland Park mass shooting sue gunman, gun manufacturer, distributors
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) – Survivors of the July 4 parade mass shooting in Highland Park filed multiple lawsuits on Wednesday accusing a gun manufacturer, distributor, retailer, the alleged shooter, and his father of responsibility for the massacre in which seven people were killed and dozens more were injured.
The lawsuits, filed in Lake County Court, name Smith & Wesson, a gun manufacturing company; Bud's Gun Shop, an online gun distributor; Red Dot Arms, a Lake Villa, Illinois gun retailer; Robert Crimo III, the 21-year old suspect who has pleaded not guilty to over 100 charges related to the shooting; and his father Robert Crimo Jr. as defendants.
The plaintiffs claim that Smith & Wesson knowingly sought to sell its weapons to "disturbed young men by targeting and exploiting [their] risk-seeking – and often troubling – desires," according to the lawsuit. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs pointed the finger directly at Smith & Wesson for its marketing and advertising strategies that targeted such young men, lead to more gun sales and more mass shootings throughout the U.S.
"As they watch their gun sales increase, their profits increase, have they tuned down their marketing strategy, their advertising strategy when it comes to vulnerable young men in this country? No," said Antonio Romanucci, an attorney with Romanucci & Bladin, during a news conference on Wednesday announcing the lawsuits.
Romanucci accused Smith & Wesson of profiting in the aftermath of mass shootings as after each event, there tends to be a "bump in sales" of guns.
They also claim that Bud's Gun Shop and Red Dot Arms allowed the alleged gunman to obtain his weapons despite a ban on such guns in Highland Park and Highwood. In the complaint, the plaintiffs said the alleged gunman would have needed to provide his address and identification to Bud's Gun Shop which would have shown he was a resident of Highland Park or Highwood.
Neither Smith & Wesson nor Red Dot Arms responded to a request for comment.
Plaintiffs also accuse the alleged shooter's father of allowing his son to acquire his weapons by sponsoring his FOID application. The alleged gunman had a history of threatening violence. In 2019, Highland Park Police responded to two calls about him: a suicide attempt that April, and a threat he made in September that he was going to "kill everyone," according to police.
Among the plaintiffs were the estates of Nicolas Toledo, 78, Steven Strauss, 88, and Jacki Sundheim, 63, who were all killed during the shooting, and more than 40 other people who were either shot or with loved ones who were shot.
Some of the victims who survived spoke at the news conference on Wednesday, including Lauren Bennett, who is also one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit after she was shot in her hip and back during the parade. Bennett attended the parade with her husband, two youngest sons, parents and in-laws.
She described the experience of hearing shots "out of the clear blue sky" as she was enjoying the festivities, until being shot.
"I felt a tight shock in my back and hip and saw my entire lower left side was bleeding," Bennett said. "I knew right then we were under attack."
She described her family fleeing the gunshots and running around pools of blood.
"We survived a battle zone that day and will carry the most horrendous images with us for the rest of our lives," she said.
Jon Strauss, whose father Steven was among those killed, recounted learning of his death and the pain the loss has dealt him and his family.
"There would never be a goodbye hug or kiss. There would be no opportunity to thank him for all the love and support he showered on us over the years," Strauss said. "There would be no more jokes, laughs or conversations."
An attorney also read a statement from Liz Turnipseed in which she recounted being shot and asking her husband to keep their 3-year-old daughter safe. Turnipseed could not attend the news conference because she had to go to the hospital on Wednesday due to complications related to her wound, said Ari Scharg an attorney with Edelson PC.
Scharg also blamed Smith & Wesson for marketing its "M&P" (military and police) style of rifle, which, he said, has been the gun of choice for mass shooters.
"We believe that we will demonstrate to a jury that Smith & Wesson is out there training shooters, as we speak, in households all over the country," Scharg said.
The strategy mirrors the approach used by relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school killings, who in February reached a $73 million settlement with the firearm company that produced the rifle used in that attack. That was believed to be the largest payment by a gun-maker related to a mass killing.
The Sandy Hook families accused Remington of violating Connecticut consumer protection law by marketing its AR-15-style weapons to young men already at risk of committing violence, successfully circumventing federal law that has given gun-makers broad protection from past lawsuits.